Dancing with Gorillas: How Startups Can Partner with the Giants

When gorillas adopt the systematic partnering discussed in my book Dancing with Gorillas: How Startups Partner with Large Corporations it becomes more straightforward for startups to dance with them, which my research suggests involve three important steps: forming, consolidating, and extending.

Forming.

The first step from the startup’s perspective is to conceptualize the possibility of working with a given gorilla, and to be willing to reach out to them. Ensuring perceived clarity (and reasonableness) of the partnering synergy is important in order to attract high-quality startups.

Consolidating.

Next, the startup would ideally seek to consolidate the already-formed relationship it has with a gorilla by achieving a tangible win that realizes the potential of a mutually beneficial relationship. In this step, ensuring that effective (and transparent) interfaces are created is important in order to enable high-quality startups to consolidate their relationship with the concerned gorilla.

Extending.

Finally, startups that have consolidated their partnerships by achieving a tangible win – especially ones that are showcased as exemplars – would likely seek to extend their relationship with the corporation. However, the startup may retain a certain level of wariness because, still, the gorilla is likely to be perceived as the more powerful entity.

You can read more in my StartupNation article, “Dancing with Gorillas: How Startups Partner Can with the Giants“.